Despite that uphill climb and some bumps in the road in April, it could be worse for the Sox. They could be the Angels.
On the other side of the park we got word that Mike Scioscia was laying into his team, losers of seven in a row, while reporters were waiting outside. No confirmation on that, just hear-say.
While LA sorts out its mess, Boston will turn to Josh Beckett for the opener against New York. The first pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. and we will be following the action all weekend for you.
Final, Red Sox 11-6: After falling behind 4-0 the Sox simply dominated the Angels, putting the finishing touches on their first four-game sweep of the year.
This figured to be a critical homestand for Boston. It came home reeling from those three straight losses in Baltimore. In addition, after the homestand is done, the Sox will have played 23 of their first 35 at home. This is not a time to be idling around .500 because the road trips will come in droves later on.
The Yankees are the next opponent, in case you hadn't heard. They begin a three-game series in Fenway Park on Friday. It'll be Josh Beckett going against Phil Hughes in that one.
We're heading to the clubhouse to check on things. Back in a bit to get you set for the weekend.
End 8th, Red Sox 11-6: It'll be Ramon Ramirez to try to get the last three outs and finish the sweep. He came on to retire the side in the eighth. Tim Wakefield is warming in the bullpen, however.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 11-6: The matchups for the series with the Yankees are juicy.
Josh Beckett goes against Phil Hughes, who has been New York's best starter, in the opener Friday. Clay Buchholz and CC Sabathia go Saturday on national TV, and the finale features Jon Lester and A.J. Burnett, who has been about as good as Hughes.
End 7th, Red Sox 11-6: Kevin Youkilis hit the 11th triple of his career with two outs in the seventh. He was left right there but seeing Youkilis chug to third to beat a throw is worth it.
Ramon Ramirez is on to pitch the eighth for the Red Sox.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 11-6: The Angels get the first two on in the seventh but fail to score. Boston is six outs from its first four-game sweep in the series since 1980.
10:02 p.m.: Manny Delcarmen's night is over. He gives way to Hideki Okajima with two on and one out in the seventh.
End 6th, Red Sox 11-6: The Red Sox have batted around in two straight innings and were up for what seemed like an eternity in the sixth. It was an ugly inning for the Angels all around.
LA committed two errors while its pitchers walked two and hit one batter.
Boston's four runs came on a bases-loaded walk, an RBI single, a fielding error and a groundout.
9:38 p.m.: J.D. Drew just forced in a run by drawing a bases-loaded walk. The Angels bullpen is known for such things. Mike Scioscia has gone to Matt Palmer, his third pitcher of the night.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 7-6: The Angels' catching situation is a mess right now due to injuries, and the defensively inferior Mike Napoli is playing a ton until the ranks are filled back up. One thing he can do, however, is hit.
Napoli crushes a high heater from Manny Delcarmen into the Boston bullpen to pull LA within a run. It is only Napoli's first home run of the year, but he is 4-for-8 in the series.
9:17 p.m.: The way it started for Daisuke Matsuzaka, he figured to reach the sixth inning only in a dream. His night is done after 5 1/3 innings. Manny Delcarmen is on for the Sox.
In his two starts Matsuzaka has now given up four runs in one inning, six in another and a total of one in the other eight-plus he has been out there.
End 5th, Red Sox 7-4: We talked about Jeremy Hermida's performance in the clutch the other night. He adds to that reputation with a tie-breaking, pinch-hit two-run single in the fifth.
To update the numbers included in the story above, Hermida is now 5-for-9 with 11 RBIs with two outs and runners in scoring position.
The Sox sent 10 men to the plate in the fifth.
Daisuke Matsuzaka is still out there but Many Delcarmen has been warming in the bullpen.
9:04 p.m.: All four RBIs for the Red Sox go to Victor Martinez, who drives in a pair with a double in the fifth. Three batters later Scott Kazmir is done and Boston is into that beleaguered Angels bullpen.
Mid 5th, Angels 4-2: We know you love your defensive statistics, so here's a quick one. Dustin Pedroia has four assists and three putouts in the first five innings.
Amazingly, Daisuke Matsuzaka has thrown just 88 pitches, after tossing 39 in the first inning alone.
End 4th, Angels 4-2: I don't know if you can overemphasize the importance of this game. To go into the Yankees series on a four-game winning streak means so much more than coming in on a loss and back under .500.
The Sox would never say as much. They will say it's a long season and all that. But some momentum against the world champs could work wonders.
Mid 4th, Angels 4-2: Daisuke has set down seven in a row and 10 of the last 11 he has faced. Hard to imagine with the way this one started.
End 3rd, Angels 4-2: Victor Martinez homered for the first time this year on April 6. He homered for the second time this year on May 6. It was a long month for the Red Sox No. 3 hitter, but he appears to be coming around, as evidenced by his two-run shot into the Boston bullpen in the third.
Martinez is now hitting .300 (6-for-20) with a home run and five RBIs in May. He hit .238 with a home run and five RBIs all of April.
Mid 3rd, Angels 4-0: Maybe that first inning was just a case of nerves for Daisuke Matsuzaka, pitching at home for the first time this year. Or maybe it was a hangover from his final inning Saturday in Baltimore. Whatever the reason he has begun to throw strikes and get some outs, thanks in large part to his defense.
Since Howie Kendrick's two-run double in the first, Matsuzaka has retired seven of eight.
All three outs in the third deserve a star next to them. First, Dustin Pedroia made a leaping grab of a liner ticketed to center. Bill Hall then tracked down a fly on the warning track in left while avoiding a collision with center fielder Darnell McDonald. Finally, Marco Scutaro made a backhanded stop of Juan Rivera's hard grounder, rose to his feet and tossed to first, where Kevin Youkilis scooped it up for the third out.
Run prevention, my friends. Run prevention.
End 2nd, Angels 4-0: The Sox left nine men on base Wednesday night and have stranded four through the first two innings in this one. Not the way to erase a four-run deficit.
What made things worse in the second was that the two runners — J.D. Drew and Adrian Beltre — started the inning off with singles and then went nowhere.
Mid 2nd, Angels 4-0: I said it last night and I'll say it again — Dustin Pedroia's play at second base this year has been as close to perfect as you can imagine. He has yet to commit an error and makes every single play he has even a remote chance at making.
In the second, Pedroia charges a ball hit behind the mound and gets speedy Erick Aybar at first. One batter later he makes a diving stop up the middle to get a force at second and end the inning.
End 1st, Angels 4-0: Scott Kazmir did his best to duplicate Daisuke Matsuzaka's effort by walking a pair and throwing his fair share of pitches, but he strands two when Mike Lowell flies to right.
Expect to see Tim Wakefield by 9:00 p.m., and expect the ovation for him to be loud.
Mid 1st, Angels 4-0: It's tough to ellicit sarcastic cheers from a crowd less than 10 minutes after the first pitch, but that's what Daisuke Matsuzaka was able to do after one of his rare strikes in a long first inning.
Matsuzaka walked the first two men he faced and then gave up an RBI single to Torii Hunter before Kendry Morales flew out at 7:23 p.m., 13 minutes after the first pitch.
Pitching coach John Farrell went to the mound at 7:26 after Matsuzaka's third walk of the inning. The second out came at 7:31 on a fielder's choice that plated the second run.
At 7:33, Howie Kendrick slugged a two-run double and the first boos were heard. Two minutes later there was a pickoff attempt at second base. Finally, at 7:36, Matsuzaka struck out Mike Napoli on his 39th pitch of the first inning.
Settle in, folks. Could be a long night.
6:37 p.m.:With Scott Kazmir having faced the Red Sox 23 times in his career, there are some guys with plenty of looks at the lefty. Dustin Pedroia has enjoyed the most success, going 15-for-29 (.517) with six walks against just one measly strikeout.
Victor Martinez is 5-for-11 (.455) against Kazmir, but the next four hitters in the Sox lineup have some rather ugly numbers in the matchup.
Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew and Adrian Beltre are a combined .214 (22-for-103) with 36 strikeouts. All four home runs hit by the group off Kazmir have come off the bat of Lowell.
The seven members of the Angels lineup who have faced Daisuke Matsuzaka are a combined 9-for-46 (.196) with one home run.
6:20 p.m.: The daily Jacoby Ellsbury-Mike Cameron watch yields no major news, but both were seen taking batting practice and running the bases again.
Terry Francona indicated that there is nothing new on those two in terms of activation dates or anything like that, but they are still progressing.
Francona talked a lot about Victor Martinez, whose issues of throwing out runners has been corrected, at least temporarily.
"Victor has worked really hard. I think he took that pretty hard. In between innings you watch him, that throw to second, he wants to know what his time is to second. He's been really conscientious about that," Francona said. "I would say this week he's better. It's a long year, but he's been pretty quick the last six, seven throws. Even between innings, the release is quicker."
Francona was not asked specifically about the Mike Lowell-David Ortiz situation. It has become accepted that if a lefty is on the mound, Lowell, who is 5-for-5 with a walk in the series, will be in there. The next left-hander the Sox face is CC Sabathia on Saturday in the second game of the Yankees series.
With Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound we are reminded that Tim Wakefield has not pitched since Saturday, when he relieved Matsuzaka in the fifth inning of a loss to Baltimore. Francona said Wakefield's routine is not any different than the other relievers in terms of throwing, stretching, etc. But you wonder how the inactivity might affect him.
Wakefield has thrown 2 1/3 innings since April 25.
4:44 p.m.: We just heard from Terry Francona and did some laps around the Red Sox clubhouse, which is a bit livelier with some New York media members in town in advance of the Yankees series and plenty of Japanese media members around with Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound. Updates to come in a bit. For now, here are your lineups for the series finale against the Angels:
Red Sox
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Mike Lowell DH
J.D. Drew RF
Adrian Beltre 3B
Bill Hall LF
Darnell McDonald CF
Angels
Erick Aybar SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Torii Hunter CF
Kendry Morales 1B
Hideki Matsui DH
Juan Rivera LF
Howie Kendrick 2B
Mike Napoli C
Brandon Wood 3B
8 a.m.: It's hard to believe it was only four days ago that the Red Sox were ripped by their general manager and flew home from Baltimore in stunned silence, wondering when they would get things going.
Now the club is on the verge of a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and can get above .500 for the first time since it was 1-0.
Daisuke Matsuzaka will make his second start of the year for Boston. He could not make it out of the fifth inning Saturday in Baltimore, giving up seven runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Scott Kazmir goes for the Angels, losers of six straight for the first time in over two years.
First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
